18 months 25 days

Last night it was 3 am, when I went to bed, and this morning we got up at 8 am as usual. After eating breakfast, the kids went downstairs with Randy, and I went back to bed. My alarm was set for 11:15, as it was baby food jar day. At that time I got up and put the jars into the warmer, and went back to bed. I figured I'd wake up when Sammy woke up, and we'd eat then. We're trying to get him to sleep after lunch like the other two do, but he was too tired to make it today. He had the 90 minute Mobile Support lady here from 9 to 10:30 today; that must have worn him out.

At noon Randy woke me up; Sammy was still sleeping. But we went ahead to feed them anyway, and Sammy woke up from all the noise. It was rather late, quite a few minutes after noon, when we got started. I put their food into their baby plates anyway, so they could eat it more easily. They now have baby spoons and are both using it to eat. Emmy holds the spoon, but prefers putting his fingers into the food, as it's easier to get the food into his mouth. I did help him for quite some time to use the spoon. Tammy is more motivated and tries to use the spoon all by herself, with mixed results. I helped her get the food into her mouth as well, and she stuck with the spoon. She ate everything, and a little of her brother, who didn't want it all. I did bring out the banana and watermelon and yoghurt then. I put the creamy yoghurt into cups, and they drank it out of there. Thankfully no one was throwing a cup today.

Then I put Emmy to bed first. He was asleep fast. Tammy was extremely tired and just screaming, when I was cleaning her up, giving her a new diaper, and dressing her. When I put her to bed, she was in sleeping position and closing her eyes. However, after I walked away, she got up, took the sleeping bag off, and started talking and playing. All the while Emmy continued sleeping. I returned a few times, trying to encourage her to sleep, but it took a long time today, and it was nearly 1:30 before she finally fell asleep. Just a few minutes later Emmy woke up crying, but thankfully he fell back asleep all by himself.

At 2:30 Randy came upstairs with Sammy to feed him his afternoon jar, before putting him to bed. When he put him down, his crying woke up the other two. They got up, talking and laughing - together with Sammy, keeping him from sleeping. Randy had left for the grocery store right after putting Sammy down. I took Emmy and Tammy downstairs to play, and then Sammy fell asleep.

We had lots of fun for the next two hours - reading books, the swing, the slide, opening and closing blinds, throwing Emmy around, when he's cranky. When Sammy woke up, I went to get him, and he joined us in the fun.

Emmy likes putting his fingers inside his diaper, especially when it's a dirty diaper. He gets really quiet as he inspects what's on his fingers. I always know something is up, when he behaves like that. Once I noticed it, I picked him up, took off his diaper and cleaned him up, and put him on the potty. His sister was right there watching. He hasn't done anything in the potty since that first day. This morning when I went to get the kids out of bed, I was wondering why Emmy was not on his feet. Until I saw that he had opened up his pj's and taking his diaper off and there was pee and poop everywhere. I was glad that Randy gives them a new diaper in the morning, while I make breakfast.

At 5 pm I had to leave them to make dinner - and put the dishes into the dishwasher, as I had not had a chance to do that earlier, like I usually do. As they were cranky, they came upstairs once I had some bread with cream cheese ready. I was glad Randy had bought bananas and watermelon again, as we had been out. Tammy eats so much watermelon, and Emmy loves his bananas. We also had fresh bread, and they were more eager to eat it than usual. Today they ate most of their food at the dining room table, and had only a little left to eat in the bathtub. Recently, when they start spitting out the fruit, because they don't want it any more, I've been asking them, "For Tammy or Mommy?" "For Emmy or Mommy?", while holding up the fruit in my hand. They start smiling, take the fruit out of my hand saying "Mommy", and put it into my mouth with a big grin on their face. They love feeding Mommy!

Randy gets Sammy out first and starts putting his pj's on, while I give Emmy and Tammy their toothbrush and help them brush their teeth. Then I get out and put Sammy's braces on and put him to bed, while Randy gets Emmy out. Tammy, the oldest, comes out last. Tonight all three were having fun together, when I walked away. They need less and less sleep! Then it got quiet, except for Sammy, so I returned to put him back into his sleeping position. The other two were lying down, but got up, when I came. Later I had to come back for Tammy to help her fall asleep and stay a little bit. She was having a hard time.

Tonight I was cutting up my salad for two days, which takes a LONG time, before I can sit down to eat. Then I started office work, at 11 pm I went upstairs to clean the kitchen and dining room. Tammy wanted her milk at that time, and then I returned to my desk to continue working. It's not even 1 am, so I still have time to work. I've been making good progress, and want to continue catching up on work, before I write a newsletter which is time-intensive.